September 5, 2018

[Gordonb]

Today is not particularly special except that it is the day before we go off to Turkey for a 7 week trip! 7 weeks away is still unimaginable even though I have now finished work completely and the rest of my life will now be on MY terms, and I'll be on my timetable rather than someone else's - that will be a big, big bonus!

As you may recall we have moved from our house into a flat "downtown" as Americans would probably say and we have a concierge in the apartment block lobby. He/she doesn't announce visitors as they can buzz us themselves, but every time I see him/her I laugh to myself whilst saying "This is Carlton, your doorman". That was good tv right?

[KathyB]

Seven weeks! I can't imagine it either. Here's hoping you have a great and relaxing stay, and congratulations on your retirement.

Today is not very special here either except I have to remember I have a doctor's appointment.

[DiveMilw]

Today was sort of special for me.  I got my temp dental appliance to fill the gap left by the tooth I had extracted last Friday.  And I took the car in to have the passenger airbag replaced because it is part of a recall.  As luck would have it the dealer's service department also found over $7,000 in repairs which must be done IMMEDIATELY.  Thank goodness for the $25 coupon I may or may not be able to use for all this.  Some of the repairs, such as replacing the tires, I already knew about - although the cost of the tires is not included in that total, just the labor.  Not sure what I'm going to do.  I need to consult with my car mechanic cousins and see what they think.  

[KathyB]

$7,000!

I would advise having the tires replaced at Costco instead of the dealer. But the rest of it--yikes. That seems absurd. Is there any part of the car that they say works fine?

[DiveMilw]

$7,000!

I would advise having the tires replaced at Costco instead of the dealer. But the rest of it--yikes. That seems absurd. Is there any part of the car that they say works fine?

LOL!  The doors and the radio didn't have any recommendations.  

One of my friends pointed out that they recently had the engine in their car rebuilt for $5,000.  
My brother informed me that several of the items are known problems for Subaru cars and don't need to be fixed yet.  I resent the dealer telling me to get a known weakness in the car "fixed". 
 I will look into getting the tires from COSTCO.   We usually go to another place but maybe we will switch this year.